DIVINE TAX

Zakat is one of the five pillars of islam, its aim is to meet the social needs of the muslim society and to improve the economic position in islam.

The word zakat means purification, blessing and increasing. It is akind of protection of the wealth of those who are rich. When a muslim pays his zakat he is protecting his money from unexpected disaster, for the prophet said, “Protect your property by giving zakat and help your relatives to recover from their illness by giving charity.”

Zakat is an obligatory payment, like a tax, and the English translation is “poor dues.” It could called a divine tax, for it has been prescribed by god in the holy Quran and the sayings of the prophet. The Holy Quran says in many places, “keep up regular prayer and give Zakat,” and one of the sayings of the prophet Mu’adh was sent to Yemen  was, “You will come to folk whoare people of the book, so invite them to testify that there is no God gut God and the Muhammad is God’s Massenger. If they obey that, tell them that God has made it obligatory for them for sadaqa to be taken from the rich and handed over to the poor. If they obey that, do not take the best part of they property, and have regard to the claim of him who is wronged, for there is no veil between it and God.

There are many kinds of zakat : zakat al fitr which is an obligatory payment by a Muslim slave for freeman, male for female, young and old, and it should be made before the ‘Id prayer. It is usually given instead and it is preferable, in a country like Indonesia, for it to be done by giving money. Nowadays, one must pay Rp 1.500,00 for each member of the family,including the servant (if there is a servant) and one’s parents, if one is responsible for them. Ibn Abbas said that Gods messenger prescribed the zakat relating to the breaking of the fast as a purification from empty and obscene words and as food for the poor.

Other kinds of zakat al mal, meaning money zakat, either gold of silver, zakat at tijara, meaning trade zakat, zakat al an’am meaning cattle, involving camels, cows, or sheep, zakat al zuru wa al thamar, meaning cereals and fruits. These last two are of one kind. For zakat to be compulsory there must be two conditions ; first, that it must reach the nisab and secondly that it must have been owned by the prayer for one complete year.

Islam has prescribed zakat for all kinds of property for the benefit of needy people. It is not always in money but, in some cases, in cattle, cereals and fruits as in Africa and similar countries. But in more developed countries, trade and business are the most common ways of paying zakat and money is used for this purpose. The aim collecting zakat is to serve members of society and to meet their needs and help them to o evercome the difficulties they are facing. Some people are in difficulty because they haven’t the ability to work, some because they meet with disaster of some kind and some because they are old and need help. Zakat in islam is the source of security from any hardship for all members of society. Those who have the right to receive money from zakat are mentioned in the holy Quran.

In case there is nobody who is in need zakat, it will be collected and the head of the community will spend it for the benefit of the whole, using it for example, for the building of school, hospital, mosques, or other similar things.